//------------------------------// // 44:Knowledge is power. // Story: Honor the Dead // by BinaryTroll //------------------------------// Honor the Dead by BinaryTroll Pre-read/Edited by Chapter 44:“Knowledge is power.” -------------- I woke up early in the morning, far earlier than usual. The sun had only just peeked above the horizon, painting it the color of the leaves in autumn. Edward, Joel and Shyvanna were all still sleeping, so I quietly climbed out of my hammock and onto the bookshelf that served as the group's living area. I blinked the tiredness out of my eyes and looked around. A small square of white caught my eye, lying at the base of the hook that secured my hammock to the bookshelf. I picked it up. It was an envelope, addressed to me. I frowned. The only ponies who would know me by my real name would be the princesses. I tore it open and read it. Dear Viridi, I have a matter that I would like to discuss with you that is suited to your particular area of expertise, specifically, changeling magic. If you know of anypony that is also skilled in enchanting armor or other items, you are welcome to bring them along, so long as they are trustworthy. Besides this I would prefer if you could keep the matter quiet, although due to the nature of your situation, I do not think you would have any reason to speak of this matter to others anyway. You may tell your friends, as none of them are likely to have any contact with Honored Service. Please meet me in my chambers at your earliest convenience. The guards should let you in if you say your name is Viridi. I look forward to working with you on this little project. Sincerly, The Princess of the Sun, Celestia PS. I need to talk to you about Edward and Joel as well, I have asked for a note to be delivered to Shyvanna about this as well, but you two may want arrange to meet with me at the same time. I raised an eyebrow at the PS and looked over at the sleeping form of Shyvanna. There was an envelope at the end of her hammock too. I gently nudged her awake and handed it to her. She tore it open and scanned the contents. She handed it to me. It was shorter than the one I had been given, merely asking her to accompany me when I went to see what Celestia wanted. Not wanting to wake the humans, I whispered, “Do you want to go see her now?” “Why not?” She whispered back with a shrug. “Those two will be out for a while.” We slowly glided down to the floor together before making our way to Celestia's chambers. “What do you think this 'project' is?” Shyvanna asked after I had disguised myself and we had left the library. I shrugged. “It could be any number of things, although I'd assume that she wants some sort of shape-shifting spell, similar to the ones we changeling use, that can be enchanted into a piece or set of armor, presumably to spy on Honored Service.” “That's rather specific for an assumption.” Shyvanna commented. “Never regard anything as any more than an assumption until you have all the facts.” I replied. “We're here.” I stared up at the great double doors that marked the entrance to Celestia's private rooms. One of the guards stepped forward and formally stated, “This area is off limits to civilians, I am going to have to ask you to be on your way.” He glanced at Shyvanna's wings and horns, but didn't comment I quickly showed him the letter with the royal seal stamped on it and said, “My name is Viridi. I was told that the princess wished to speak with me.” The stallion took the letter and inspected the stamp. “It seems to be in order.” He handed it back to me. “The princess specifically stated to skip the changeling check.” He scowled at me. “I hope that isn't for the reason I think.” I smiled sweetly at him. “Oh no, nothing like that. But I must say, you might want to change your attitude, there's going to be some interesting changes in the upcoming months.” He scowled even more deeply and said nothing. I edged open the huge double doors, which glided smoothly on well oiled hinges. I found that interesting, Celestia must have a lot of confidence in her guards if her doors opened that quietly. There were many magical wards around and in the doorway, but magic could be deceived. I had been in the princess's chambers before, so I quickly took a seat on the carpet. Shyvanna stayed standing, looking a little nervous. I could feel uncertainty lingering around her, along with a few snippets of fear. “Are you feeling alright?” I asked casually. “I'm fine.” She replied, tense. I frowned. “No you aren't. You're scared, uncertain. Why?” She bit her lip. It was quite a while before she replied. “I knew the two humans were dangerous, but I'm still not sure to what extent. Edward boasts killing thousands, and I'm starting to believe that might be true. He's capable and willing to kill that many just so he can live a few more years. It scares me. But what is worse is Joel. Joel doesn't boast about a thing, and yet...” She grimaced. “And yet Edward regards him as an equal, perhaps even his better. I have no idea what he can do, and that's what scares me most of all.” I nodded. “Take a seat. I have a feeling we might be here for quite some time.” As it turned out, it was less than a minute before the princess of the sun entered the room, in all her royal glory. “Who in tartarus are you?” She asked sleepily, staring at us blankly with the red-rimmed eyes of somepony who had only just woken up. Her hair was somehow frizzy and she looked like she badly needed several more hours worth of sleep. I let my disguise drop in a burst of green fire. “I believe you sent us both a note to see you at our earliest convenience?” I reminded her, standing up and bowing my head. “This is your earliest convenience? Just after the sun rises?” She muttered. “You changelings are a weird bunch.” I ignored the comment. “What is it that you wished to discuss?” She was silent. After a few seconds I realized that she was nodding off. “Princess?” Her head snapped back up.“Huh?” I sighed internally. “You wanted to talk to us?” She blinked slowly. “Oh, right. Yes.” “Should we come back later?” Shyv asked, eyebrows raised. “No...” She shook her head. “I'm fine. So what was it that I wanted to discuss?” I silently handed her the note. She read the first few lines before dropping it on the floor. “That's right!” She exclaimed. “Changeling stuff!” I raised an eyebrow. “Descriptive.” She grinned insanely, and the hair didn't help. “Can you enchant something with that shape-changing magic so anypony can use it? Specifically armor or some sort of amulet?” “I should be able to, but my knowledge of runes is rudimentary at best, and any enchantments I make without them would likely break very quickly.” I replied. “We would need an enchantment specialist, or somepony very skilled with runes. I would also prefer working with armor than an amulet, I think you'll find it would suit the job better.” She clapped her hooves together excitedly. “Great! Follow me to the lab. We can meet my sister down there.” “The lab?” Shyvanna asked. “Why do we need a lab?” “Did you think we were going to experiment in my room?” Celestia asked, amused. “Maybe?” Shyv said uncertainly. “You weren't exactly clear in your letter.” I quickly re-disguised myself as Celestia opened the doors, giving a quick nod to her guards, which bowed deeply in reply. “Well, I'm sorry about that, but I didn't want to give away to much information just in case somepony else got their hands on it.” She said, leading the way down the hall. Shyvanna shrugged. “Fair enough. Although if that was the case you probably should have said even less.” “If I said much less it would have appeared too suspicious, like the sort of note an assassin would give.” She sighed quietly. “Trust me, I have several millennia worth of experience with those.” “Speaking of assassins...” I began. “Why did you want to talk to us about Joel and Edward?” She looked far more alert and serious when she replied. “I've noticed a few things about those two, things that I saw very rarely amongst the humans of ages past. Specifically, magical capability.” “Magical capability?” Shyvanna asked. “I thought humans were inherently nonmagical.” “Not quite.” I interrupted. “Remember, humans have emotions, just like you and I. Emotions contain magical energy that I can convert into chemical energy.” “Actually it goes even further than that.” Celestia continued. “Emotions are a combination of chemicals and electrical and magical energy. That energy is converted into kinetic energy, more chemical energy or various other types of energy, which can be used for a wide variety of tasks. To channel magic properly, it must flow through some form of conduit, the most convenient being bone. Bones are good at conducting magical energy, but not very good with storing it. A wide variety of chemicals can store it within one's body, but the best way to store it externally is within a gem or, to a lesser extent, a metal. Certain symbols and artifacts create an environment that can focus magic into desirable patterns as well.” “Is that why dragons eat gems?” Shyv asked. The princess smiled. “Yes, most other species don’t have such a specialized digestive system.” “So wait, if this is all energy, how can we teleport with magic, or create various objects?” I mused. “Or shape-shift.” Shyv added. Celestia grimaced. “That is very complicated to understand, but in short, accelerating things past the speed of light can create mass and in some cases, manipulate time. But that is a long lesson that I am yet to teach even Twilight Sparkle.” “In that case, let's move back on topic, what do you mean magical capability?” I asked. “Edward seems to have some extra magic stored in him, but it's in a weird place.” Shyvanna tilted her head in question.“A weird place?” Celestia frowned. “Runes and runic magic are quite literally in his blood. Tiny fragments of gems filled with magic are running around inside him, and I fear they damage his mind.” She sighed. “But at least I can explain that. They must have been a part of the experiments that he was subjected to at a young age. The bigger problem is Joel.” “What's wrong with Joel?” I asked, concerned. “That's just it.” Celestia said worryingly. “I don't know. He seems to be able to manipulate magical energy, but not in the conventional sense. It's almost as if he has no emotions or magic of his own, but absorbs them from those around him. I've never seen anything like it before, and it scares me.” She stopped walking. “We're here.” I looked around. “There's nothing here. It's just a corridor.” Celestia's horn lit up yellow and the floor fell out from under us. I buzzed my wings quickly, preventing myself becoming a chunky green stain on the floor. We appeared to have half-teleported, half-fell into a large empty white space. There was a floor I was standing on, but no light sources, and I didn't cast a shadow. The only things that broke the whiteness was Shyvanna, Princess Celestia herself and a indigo smudge that looked to be some distance away. “Welcome to the lab.” Celestia said with a smile. “AKA pocket dimension Lima Alpha Bravo.” Creative... “How did we get here?” I asked, confused. Shyvanna looked like she was going to be sick. “There is a rune painted in white paint at that exact spot in the castle, almost invisible to anypony not looking specifically for it. When activated, it takes anypony within the rune's realm of influence here, to the lab.” “So what's that?” Shyvanna asked, pointing at the indigo blot. “That would be my dearest sister.” Celestia said with a smile. “Lets go talk to her.” “But she's ages away.” I said, squinting at the blob in the distance. “Is she now?” Celestia asked. I raised an eyebrow. “Um, yes?” “Look again.” I turned back and instead of seeing the dot in the distance I expected, I was instead met with a long, indigo furred face. “Boo.” The princess of the night said, grinning from ear to ear. I jumped backwards. “How?” “The usual laws of time and space don't apply here, they can be manipulated at will. Makes it very easy to clean up a massive mess you create when trying to cast powerful spells.” Luna explained, still smiling. I stared around at the whiteness again before turning back to Luna and raising an eyebrow. “Is this really necessary?” “Probably not.” Celestia shrugged. “But sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry.” “Theres a difference between safety and you know...” Shyv shook her head. “Overkill.” “Well, it's better than that one time we set Canterlot on fire.” Luna said, smiling at the memory. Celestia sighed. “Three weeks healing burns, repairing buildings, and wiping memories. Needless to say, not fun.” “What were you trying to do?” I muttered. “Quickly cook breakfast. The head chef had taken the day off sick.” “Remind me to never ask you to cook.” Shyvanna said. “Point is, you never know what is going to happen when you try a new spell.” Celestia interjected. “Now, let's begin.” Several weeks later Entering the Everfree once more ensured several days of uneventful walking, talking, and general boredom. Although the addition of music helped greatly to alleviate some of that boredom. Not to mention catching up on several months of My Little Pony that I missed, amongst other things... "Dammit Honored! WHY YOU DO DIS?" I shouted at my iPod. "Calm down." Vi sighed. "It's just a book." "I'm living this book!" I stopped and thought for a moment. "Well, I technically not living it so much as living in a universe slash world where this book is true, which makes absolutely no sense, since Honored Service is writing it, but is also living it, but one of them is on Earth and the other isn't, so they can't be the same person. Especially since this one is trying to get back to Earth now, so the one writing it cannot exist on the same Earth as this one. Assuming this is Earth or the equivalent of Earth." "I liked it better when he was reading." Vi muttered to Shyv. "Oh, I'm sorry for being interested in how the bloody universe works!" I exclaimed sarcastically. "I'm sorry, I'll go back to reading then." "Who cares how it all works?" Shyvanna replied. "You're better off not knowing and focusing on the important things in life." "We don't know what's important if we don't figure it out, do we?" She shrugged. "Friends, family, happiness. They're important." "I managed to lose all of those in a single day, they can't be that important." I growled. "Perhaps the fact you can lose them so easily is what makes them so important." Joel argued. "I survived three years without them, so once again, not that important." I shot back. "Knowledge is what is important, and it's what's saved my life time and time again." "But has it made you happy?" Shyv asked. "I..." Has it? I scowled. "It's better than being ignorant." She replied. "Ignorance is bliss." I didn't have an answer to that. I sighed quietly and returned to reading. According to Vi we were getting closer to Ponyville, but as to how accurate that was, I wasn't sure. We had been walking for quite some time, and I would have thought that we would have reached Ponyville by now, considering how long it took us to walk across the great plains to get to Canterlot. Then again, I had staminup back then, and there weren't massive bogs filled with hydras, cockatrices and all manner of other mythological beasties that tasted rather nice spit roasted over dragon fire to deal with, but I digress. “Yo!” Joel shouted. I looked up. He waved his hand in a beckoning motion. “Come have a look at this.” I made a note of where I was up to on the page before pocketing my iPod and running after Joel. “Hey!” Shyv shouted. “Don't run off!” “I'll be back in a sec!” I called over my shoulder before returning my attention back to Joel, who was quickly disappearing into the trees. After a few seconds of all out sprinting for me and light jogging for Joel, we burst into a small clearing. The trees were lighter here, less twisted and evil looking. There was a small dirt trail leading out of the clearing and in fact the Everfree itself. It looked relatively new, as though it was not traveled much. But that was far from the most interesting part. There was a rune in the center of the clearing, a six pointed star with many complicated symbols running around and through it. I stared at it. “Woah.” “I wonder what it's for?” Joel asked absently, tapping his chin. I glanced down at my iPod. “And just one more shape.” I planted the tip of my knife into the dirt and swirled the blade to the side creating a long spiral in the last rune on the six pointed star. The sun leaked through the canopy of the Everfree forest as I stood up and sheathed my knife, taking a step back and looking at the completed rune. It had only taken five weeks, three days, six hours, and forty-two minutes to complete, but it was picture perfect. It was a flawless copy of the rune in the scroll. I aimed my gauntlet at the completed rune and charged up the sealing spell so that nothing would disturb my baby’s rest while I gathered the final three artifacts needed for the spell to be completed. I launched the spell, blood red energy surrounding the rune and outlining all the shapes and symbols carved painstakingly into the dirt, before the air above the rune began to shimmer. You have got to be fucking kidding me. I lifted my iPod slowly and showed the paragraph to Joel. His eyes widened as he read. “So this is?” I nodded slowly. “Yeah...” I stared at the rune for a few more seconds. “Something doesn't feel right though.” He gave me a questioning glance. “What do you mean?” “This rune. It hasn't been done properly.” I knelt by the drawing in the dust and pointed at it. “This part denotes travel through space, but that's wrong. It's supposed to be something else. And this bit,” I jabbed my finger at another section of the rune. “it requires some form of triangulation of position, else the measurements could be way off course.” I growled, not knowing why. “Why didn't he read up on this stuff?” Joel held up a finger. “Wait a second, how do you know all of this?” I blinked. “What?” “How do you all these things about runes?” He asked again. “By all rights, you should have even less knowledge on the subject than Honored does.” I stroked my chin slowly, thinking. He was right, I had no idea where I got all that crap from. There was literally nowhere that I could have learned that. “Fuck, I dunno.” Joel shrugged. “In that case, I would say we leave it alo-” “No!” I shouted suddenly. “We have to fix this!” Joel stared at me. “Um... Alright then me.” I slapped myself. “Shut the fuck up.” “So how do we fix this?” Joel asked sceptically. I pursed my lips. “First, we gotta fix a few bit and pieces, and then we need to purify the magical power and triangulate the position that the portal is directed to, else anybody who goes through it may end up a few thousand kilometers inside of the sun.” He raised an eyebrow. “And we do that... how?” Something in my mind was running me on autopilot, making my mouth spew out all this stuff I didn't really know anything about. But I decided to roll with it. Wouldn't be the first time something like this had happened. “We need several different branches of magic, three to be precise. Two to measure the angles and one to measure the distance off of that. Honored has provided the means of distance measurement, so we need to provide angles.” “But neither of us can do magic.” Joel replied, folding his arms. I considered that. “We might be able to get Vi and Shyv to do it.” “Stop running off like that!” Joel smiled. “And speak of the devils.” “Hey!” Vi exclaimed. “I prefer hellspawn.” I shrugged. “Meh. Anyway, could you two come have a look at this?” Vi peered down at the rune, Shyv by her side. “This is extremely powerful magic. The amount of emotions that this rune is charged with is incredible.” “Like what?” Shyv asked. “Homesickness mostly.” Vi replied, studying the slowly pulsating symbols. “But there's anger, happiness, hope, bits and pieces of love and even loneliness. Somebody really wants this to work.” I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I'd say so. This is Honored Service's last chance to go home, even temporarily.” Vi raised an eyebrow. “Honored service to get home? Where did he come from then?” I smiled humorlessly. “Why the lovely Earth of course. The planet humans fucked up and are too stupid to know how to unfuck up.” “But you're human.” Shyv muttered lamely. I glanced at Joel. “I've never really considered myself human, and at this point, I barely am. Murderous rages, nigh invincibility, a lust for blood and power.” I sighed. “No, I don't count as human anymore.” Vi bit her lip. “But what about Joel?” Joel shrugged. “I don't really care either way. We aren't on Earth now so we can't help it. But there is someone we can help right now, that's all I care about.” I looked down at the rune. “Right then, let's fix this thing.” There was a click from my pocket and my iPod started playing music again. “The rune is protected by a seal, which we need to get rid of if we are to modify any of it's contents. That done, there are several symbols that need to be modified to allow the rune to travel properly, as this spell was created for traveling through three dimensional space, and needs to be translated into a four dimensional one and then back into a three dimensional one. Next, we need to add several symbols to allow for the chant, which doesn't apply correctly to the modifications we will make, and then reseal it so that it doesn't get modified again.” My mouth spewed out, all in one breath. Joel stared at me blankly, while Vi and Shyv exchanged worried looks. “What?” “Where's that music coming from?” Shyv asked. I shook my head. “I say all this crap about what we need to do, and you want to know about the music...” I pulled out my iPod, sighing. “Apparently that's a thing my iPod does now.” The music stopped. “And it cuts out randomly too.” I muttered, tapping the screen and unlocking it. “I have no idea why.” Instead of my usual background, there was a blank, dark blue space with an electric blue line cutting through the center, like a dead heart rate monitor. I tapped the screen. Nothing happened. I frowned. “I reckon Luna's magic broke it or something.” “Would you call giving something life breaking it?” Asked a familiar voice. A voice that had taunted me as I wracked my brains over the puzzles that it had given me. A voice I had finally silenced by tearing its host to pieces and throwing them into a fire. “GLaDOS?” Joel and I asked simultaneously. “If that is the case, then you are a horrible person.” My iPod said snarkily. “Welp.” I said, pulling my FAMAS off my back and pointing it at the device. “You you have ten seconds to vow to never speak again.” “But by saying the vow, I'm speaking.” The iPod replied. I punched it. “I am also incapable of feeling pain, so all you did was hurt your own hand. Idiot.” I scowled and turned on my bluetooth headphones, effectively silencing the device. “I can easily disconnect these.” My iPod said, out of the headphone speakers. There was a static sound, and then the GlaDOS-like voice started speaking again. “You really are a stupid monkey, aren't you?” “What the hell did I do to deserve this?” I muttered. “Well according to my maintenance records, you've replace my screen three times. Maybe you should have taken better care of me.” The iPod said. I groaned. “I'm an assassin! I don't have time to wrap you up in bubble wrap or some shit.” “If you are an assassin, you aren't a very good one. And your coat looks stupid.” I scowled. “Shut your face.” “I don't have one.” “Then shut your speakers.” “They have no way to be shut.” “Then turn them off.” “Make me.” “Do you want me to?” “Of course I don't.” The little blue line went ballistic as my iPod laughed nastily. “You are even stupider than you look.” “Arsehole.” “I don't have one. I'm an iPod.” I stuffed it back in my pocket. “Well that's enough for one day. Or lifetime.” “What happened there?” Shyv asked, confused. “I have no idea.” I shrugged. “My iPod is sentient now I guess.” “And a little bit of a bitch.” Joel added. “I can hear you.” I heard faintly from my pocket. “Don't care.” I muttered. “Anyway, moving on.” “You're just going to ignore the fact that your iPod thing started talking?” Shyv asked. “Yep.” “Well alright then.” She replied. I clapped my hands together. “Alright then, let's do some SCIENCE!” “It's magic.” Vi deadpanned. I gritted my teeth. “Magic is science. Now shut up and lets do science.” “Science... I like that word.” My iPod mused to itself. I pulled it out. “You fucking stay away from science, Miss iPod.” Joel raised an eyebrow. “Miss iPod? Seriously?” “What am I supposed to call it? Her? Whatever.” I asked. “She doesn't have a name.” “Yes I do.” The robotic voice said. I raised an eyebrow in question. “I am a forth generation iPod touch with manufacturing code M-three-L-zero-D and serial number three-nine-two-five-seven-six-six-six.” Manufacturing code M-three-L-zero-D and serial number three-nine-two-five-seven-six-six-six replied. “Alright then Miss manufacturing code M-three-L-zero-D and serial number three-nine-two-five-seven-six-six-six, stay the fuck away from science.” And with that I jammed my iPod back in my pocket. “So we fixing this rune or what?” “Lead the way.” Joel said, gesturing to the glowing jumble of symbols. I knelt down next to it. “First we have to remove the seal. If you would do the honors Vi? Heh, honors.” Vi shook her head. “The seal may be built at the level of a foal, but it is charged with more power than Princess Luna and Celestia combined. I wouldn't know where to begin removing it, let alone create one just as strong again afterwards.” I groaned. “Then what do we-” Joel stretched out his hand over the rune and poked the air just above it. There was a blinding flash of red light, and the seal was gone. Red light shimmered up and down through the previously sliver designs that twisted all over his clothing. “Woah. How the hell did you do that?” I asked, staring in wonder at the shimmering red. “I dunno.” He stared at his hand and reached out again, this time making a circle around the rune and then placing his hand in the same place as before, fingers splayed. There was a sound like waves crashing on the shore and the red light flowed out of his suit, recreating the barrier. Shyv blinked. “Well alright then. That solves that.” She muttered. “Deus ex Machina much?” I said with a laugh. Joel frowned. “I have no idea how I did that.” I shrugged in dismissal. “Yeah, well I've been spouting a bunch a random guff about runes today, so fuck it, why not eh?” He placed is hand out again. Nothing happened. “Um.” I tapped my foot. He stared at his hand. “Well, this is reliable.” He commented dryly. “Magic is just emotions right?” I mused. “Perhaps it has something to do with that?” “Where's that great runic knowledge of yours when we need it?” He said, raising an eyebrow. “Same place your trippy Tron powers went.” I countered. “Maybe we should come back to this later?” Vi asked. “Remember we originally set off to get a potion that you could use to allow you to read.” I frowned before conceding the point. “We should come back after we visit Zecora, she might have some knowledge on the subject anyway.” Joel stood up and unnecessarily dusted off his already pristine pants. “I'm not sure if I want to try that again anytime soon anyway. It felt really odd, like I suddenly was swamped with tons of memories of home.” “Hmm.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, thinking. “I'd say it's related to the magic you absorbed or whatever.” “Doesn't take a genius to see that.” Vi said. I shrugged in reply. “Sometimes going back to the basics is the best way to gain new knowledge.” “In any case, I believe we should probably clear out, since you went to all the trouble of keeping your presence hidden from Honored Service.” Joel said, strolling into the shadow of the trees. “We can come back to this later, when we know more.” “And Zecora is our best chance of getting to know more.” I finished for him, following him out of the clearing. He clicked his fingers. “Exactly! So lets do that thing with the potions and stuff.” Lets do the thing with the potions and stuff indeed. I'm sure nothing will go wrong.